One Big Circle
by MeMyselfAndTARDIS
Summary: A stranger with two hearts makes a very unexpected visit to Torchwood, almost dying and pleading for none other than the Doctor himself. The mysterious man is stumbled upon a second time, only unable to recall his previous encounter with the ex-Time Agent and the Doctor. Realising he's suffering from amnesia, they try to regain his memories. But sometimes, the truth hurts...
1. An Untimely Arrival

**Note:** So this was a story that began with the phrase "what if..." and suddenly transformed into a competition entry for Girl-on-the-moon's fanfiction contest, haha! The story revolves around Girl-on-the-moon's original character.

Quick heads up that the story is set before _Waters of Mars_ and just after _The Next Doctor. _

I'm not sure how quick updates will be thanks to oncoming final exams, but I will try as best as humanly possible. *Last of the Time Lords gesture*

Quick legal garb before I proceed with my fic because I wish I own Doctor Who. That's right, I don't own Doctor Who. I don't own Captain Jack Harkness *sigh* or the Doctor *super duper sigh*. All rights belong to the BBC.

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Chapter 1 - An Untimely Arrival

Jack rested his feet upon his desk holding a glass of whisky he rarely took out unless in times of stress, exhaustion or just trying to take his mind off things. For a brief moment, he let the silence of the hub envelop him into a state of calmness before starting his train of thought and taking a hearty sip of whisky. How he managed to send an alien mafia gang back into the Rift in a mere hour, he'll never know… He realised the dryness of his mouth despite having already drunken something – he was craving coffee right about now.

"Ianto, can I have-"

He stopped mid sentence realising the rest of his crew went out on a field mission – something about a sea monster in Scotland… Jack sighed again and cursed the Rift's unpredictable activities lately. He had no motivation to make himself a cup of coffee and fiddled with his vortex manipulator instead. Eventually, he peeled himself from his chair and stretched, eyes suddenly narrowing as the enormous door to the Hub rolled open as the metal gates opened. Did the others come back early? He peered through his office window to the floor below. There was a figure lying on the floor, apparently crawling, dressed in a dishevelled grey jacket and maroon trousers, smeared with dirt and…

Jack's heart skipped a beat.

"What?!"

He ran down the stairs and into the main Hub to find a ginger man crawling on the floor, leaving a trail of blood in his wake.

"What the hell?!" Jack dropped down next to the man, at a loss for what to do. He grunted in pain and reached up to Jack, clutching desperately onto his shirt with weak arms.

"Jack… Jack I need…"

How did he know his name? Scrap that, how did he know about Torchwood and its location? Dammit, he shouldn't have let his guard down with the absence of his crew. Instead, the ex-Time Agent just stared at the man, comprehending what was happening. "How do you know my name?"

"Please," he pleaded, blood cursing down the side of his face. He was gasping for air now. Jack was terrified. "I need… the… the Doctor…"

"What?"

"Tell him… I'm… I'm so, so… sorry," he gasped as his grip around Jack gradually loosened.

"Where's the Doctor?" the ex-Time Agent demanded in a panic.

The man didn't answer. Instead, he fell unconscious, sagging into Jack's arms.

**…**

He didn't slump on the pilot's chair of the TARDIS like what any tired Time Lord would do when they enter their TARDIS, oh no. The Doctor let out a winding sigh and collapsed on the TARDIS _floor_ and simply lay there, sprawled on his back, arms and legs out stretched. How he managed to survive the Zombie Apocalypse with a banana, a piece of string and an awful lot of fast-talking, he'll never know. Frankly, he felt like going to a quieter and less… hectic place. Almost at once, a thought struck him.

The Doctor picked himself up and frantically dashed around the console of the TARDIS, flicking switches and pressing various controls as he hurtled through the time vortex. His activities seemed to be coming to an end, as the glowing central column slid to a halt. The deafening hullaballoo of the engines suddenly faded away. Almost instantly, he spun on his heel and headed towards the dressing room when a phone began ringing. No, it wasn't his mobile phone Martha gave to him, but the TARDIS phone. He blinked at this miraculous apparition and frowned.

"You're not supposed to be ringing," he called out to his sentient ship, "You're not exactly a proper phone box…" The phone was still ringing and the Doctor hesitated on whether or not he should answer the call – not after the last time he did that… Curiosity got the better of him and he darted towards the phone, picking it up before mumbling, "hello?"

_"Doctor, get your ass to Torchwood."_

"Jack?" The Doctor boggled, recognising the all too familiar American accent. "What – How are you even calling me?!"

_"Through a phone, idiot. I need you here ASAP."_

"I'm sort of leaving to Mars…"

"_Now._"

He hung up the phone leaving the Doctor gaping at the phone.

**…**

What was the next best thing to a hospital bed? Of course - the Torchwood autopsy table. Well, frankly it was the only closest alternative that the Torchwood Hub can offer… No one really treated people here unless it was a fatal gunshot but that really required sitting on the sofa whilst you were being treated. Well... this day just happened to be one of these rare days. Not that it meant a good thing for the ex-Time Agent.

Jack stood by the autopsy table, examining the mysterious man who appeared at Torchwood's doorstep a few hours ago. He attached a final needle onto the unconscious man's arm before monitoring his stats. With the help of the remaining medical knowledge he had, he successfully cleaned and treated all the man's wounds. He studied the man and frowned. He was young; he'd give him that. Whatever happened to him to cause so much physical damage to his body was certainly unnatural - well, not human. The ex-Time Agent placed a hand on the man's chest, feeling the gentle rise and fall. He gazed at his dirtied face. His ginger hair was plastered on his sweat-streaked forehead. Jack tentatively picked the man's bio scan results and studied them hard for the umpteenth time. It was the fourth time he sent the body on a full body scan. He _still _couldn't get over the results and simply slammed them on the table next to him.

"You are _not _possible," he muttered before climbing the stairs, taking another last look from the upper level and turning around to walk towards the main hub.

He noticed the silhouette of a man by the sofas and immediately whipped out his gun and flashlight before pointing a powerful beam of light at the source of it. However, he noticed a tall skinny man with a shock of brown hair and two brown eyes on his angular face, wearing a blue pinstripe suit and a pair of maroon Converses, hopping in the middle of the main Hub, frowning at the weapon being pointed at him. "Holy crap, Doctor. Don't scare me like that," he exclaimed, holstering his pistol. "When did you get here?"

"33 minutes ago." Jack noticed the Doctor's pursed lips. "Oh, okay," he admitted, "I came just now."

"How come I didn't hear your TARDIS?"

"I released the brakes so you won't hear me come in," he mischievously grinned, gesturing at the blue box parked slap bang in the middle of the hub. Jack rolled his eyes. It wasn't because he came in unexpectedly, but he could have parked somewhere else… "It's a rare thing for me to do that," the Doctor quickly added.

"Never mind that," he waved off. "Come with me to the autopsy room. There's something I need to show you." The Doctor frowned. He's not flirting is he?

"Stop it."

"I'm serious," he slowly said before sauntering the other direction. The Doctor followed him and noticed a young man lying unconscious on the autopsy table.

"Who is he?" the Time Lord boggled, pointing his head at the body before descending down the stairs to take a closer look.

"I don't know, Doc, who is he?" The question had that tone of sarcasm, as if Jack was expecting an answer from him. But the Doctor persisted.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he mumbled, playing around with a scalpel on a surgical tray. Jack grumbled and cleared his throat.

"He suddenly turns up to the Torchwood Hub all battered up and almost as if he's dying. He said he was looking for you." The Doctor turned his head and stared at the limp body wired up to a life support machine by the looks of it.

"I've never seen him in my life," he confessed. Beginning to feel impatient, Jack picked up the bio scan results.

"He has two hearts."

The surgical equipment the Time Lord had been fiddling with dropped with a loud clang on the metal tray. Before he could take in a breath to shout, Jack grabbed his arm and pulled him out of the autopsy room, taking him all the way into his office.

"You're kidding me right?!" the Doctor exclaimed.

"No."

"_No. _That wasn't a question. You're kidding me."

"Nope."

The Doctor scowled and ran his hands through his hair, making it stand on end. "You're kidding," he persisted, taking out a stethoscope from his pocket and running out of the office and back into the autopsy room.

"No I'm not," Jack called out, slumping on his chair and resting his feet on the desk once again to take another sip of whisky. He heard the pattering of footsteps as the Doctor reappeared from the door and stood behind his desk with a look of sheer horror on his face. "I told you."

"Where is he?"

"What?"

"His body, Jack. It's not there," the Time Lord panicked.

"You're kidding me."

"No!" the Doctor shrieked, bolting out of the office.


	2. One Problem at a Time

**Note:** Saw the last update date and winced a little (considering my deadline for this fanfiction entry is May 1 *gulps*). I'm genuinely unsure how big (or small) this fic will be, but one thing's for sure, I'm enjoying writing this up!

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Chapter 2 - One Problem at a Time

"He can't have gone too far," Jack muttered, examining the man's grey jacket and blood stained green shirt left on the table next to the autopsy table. He noticed the tubes connected to the life support machine left on the table and winced - it must have hurt a _lot _pulling those out… The Doctor let out a winding sigh and ran his hands through his hair.

"He took himself off the life support machine, he hasn't got long."

And because of that dreadful thought, The Doctor legged it up the stairs and darted across the main hub when a beeping computer caught his attention. Oh, he liked a beeping computer. _No, pay attention, Doctor. He had to find that man_…

"What's that?" He blurted, edging towards the monitor.

"Rift activity," Jack muttered as he came from behind the Time Lord to take a closer look at the screen. His eyes went wide after that. "Wait, I don't understand, it's not any Rift activity…"

"Then what is it?" the Doctor snapped with impatience, raring to go on a mad search.

"It says there's energy fluctuations in front of the Millennium Centre. That's just outside Torchwood." Then he gasped. "That's not right, I'm detecting _impossible _amounts of energy surging from the area!" The two exchanged panicked glances and before the ex-Time Agent could say anything, the Doctor legged it into his TARDIS. "Doctor!" His call was just as noticeable as the last glimmer of the TARDIS bulb. "Oh for God's sake!" He exclaimed before running out of the Hub. After all, the Millennium Centre was a walking distance from the Hub…

**…**

The Doctor peered out of the TARDIS and glanced at his surroundings. He licked his index finger before placing it in the air and humming in approval. "Not bad," he grinned to himself. "Landed in Earth 2013, and to be precise, April." Then he blinked and frowned, realising he was talking to himself. He sauntered out of the TARDIS, shrugging on his long brown coat and studied the people walking around him. It shouldn't be too hard – look for a shirtless ginger man wearing a pair of maroon trousers… But he was nowhere to be found in the teaming throng of tourists and the Doctor began to panic. He constantly reminded himself that the man had little time left. That was enough motivation to keep him searching. But why was he going through a lot of stress searching for a man he'd never seen in his life? Oh, that's right. The man apparently had two hearts. It was a Time Lord-y thing: A time Lord in danger is never in danger when he's with another Time Lord. He can't be what he thought he might be, that's impossible. Surely, he would _sense _another Time Lord if there were any. He frowned. _One problem at a time, Doctor, you've got a dying Time L–man on the loose…_

A hand was placed on his shoulder that jerked him from deep thought and sent him shrieking and jumping a meter off the ground instead. It was Jack.

"Relax, Doc! It's me," Jack almost laughed. "You could have just taken the exit instead of the TARDIS." The Doctor huffed and stared hard at Jack.

"Who is that man, Jack?"

"I dunno, I thought you knew him."

"I've never seen him in my life," he explained slowly.

"Well, he had two hearts and I thought he might have been a Time Lord."

"But there's loads of other life forms with two hearts."

"He looks like a human and has two hearts," the ex-Time Agent quipped.

"That doesn't necessarily point out he's a Time Lord, Jack. I'm the only one – I saw them cease to exist in front of my eyes." A small lump in his throat began to form and he tried to give a straight face. "Give me one reason why I should believe you." Jack growled in annoyance and pushed away from the Doctor. For once, could that idiot believe him?

"We don't have time for idle chat. There's a dying _Time Lord_ on the loose."

"Do you think this is some sick joke?" he snapped. Jack suddenly had that look of worry flash his face and the Doctor noticed this. His demeanour fluctuated instantly.

"What's wrong?" He urged.

Jack cleared his throat and pointed his head towards the direction behind the Doctor. The Doctor craned his neck to the direction of Jack's sight. Several shapes could be distinguished on top of a three-storey building, but to the Doctor's sheer horror, a tiny figure of a man with noticeable ginger hair stood on the edge of the building.

"What the hell?!"

"What's he doing?!" Jack breathed.

"What do you think?!" The Doctor shrieked, spinning on his heel and running back into the TARDIS.

"Doc, what are you doing?!" The Doctor didn't reply and Jack followed him instead, stumbling into the ship before the Doctor snapped his fingers and the doors magically shut.

As the TARDIS dematerialised into the vortex, a gunshot was heard from within the streets of Cardiff.

**…**

"What the hell do you want from me?! I'm of no use to a bunch of bipedal rhinos," the ginger man shrieked. Now there's a sentence he never thought he would say… He was panting uncontrollably from the constant running and felt a painful stitch creeping in. The copper taste of blood lurked in his mouth. Another wave of terror struck him as he gaped in utter shock at his chasers and he was on the verge of tears. His arms were raised as he slowly backed away from his captors. His head throbbed from a burning pain. He gulped as he took a quick glance behind him and noticed how far he was chased. He was cornered by ten armed rhino creatures and teetering off the edge of a building.

"Time Lord, you are involved with case 1011," a rhino grunted. "Any more information won't be discussed until we take you to the Shadow Proclamation."

"What are you talking about?!" he shouted. "I've done nothing."

"You will not obstruct the Law," the creature rumbled, refusing to say any more. The man scowled and began tearing up again.

"For my whole life, I've been running from these creatures I never even knew existed – not even knowing what I've done that's gotten your attention. For God's sake, you just shot a woman because she got in your way so you can get me." He burst crying, removing his glasses to wipe the tears.

"You will not obstruct the Law," the Rhino coldly repeated.

"This can't be happening," he muttered, felling utterly dazed. What has he done? They referred to him as a "Time Lord" what do they think of him? For crying out loud, he's a _human_!

"Surrender, Time Lord. It is futile."

"What?!" he shrieked and in time, the creatures raised their guns.

"You will come with us."

He hesitated for a moment before giving a very defiant stare, followed by a "No." And with that, he flung himself off the edge of the building to the creature's utter horror. They heard a loud thud followed by screams of several passing people from below before turning to one another. A brief silence fell between the creatures before one stepped up towards it's leader.

"Our detectors aren't finding any Time Lord life signals. The Time Lord is dead. Should we inform our superiors?" a rhino queried.

"He will regenerate. The case is still going. We will retrieve the Time Lord's body," the leader grunted. There was a strange wheezing noise, but the creatures dismissed it as mere background noise.

They all nodded in agreement as the rest of the rhinos, except their leader, dispersed and descended the building. There was more screaming from nearby humans as they witnessed walking rhinos exit the building. To the leader's annoyance, retrieving the body took longer than it wanted. It also certainly attracted a lot of unwanted attention - frankly, it wasn't sure how it was going to explain their sudden appearances in Cardiff to it's superiors. That was when a rhino appeared from behind him and grunted.

"We cannot find the Time Lord's body. It is not where it fell from impact."


	3. Unable to Recall

**Note: ***sees the deadline has been extended and flails*

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Chapter 3 - Unable to Recall

Unaware of the bright light that was shone in his eyes, he felt his left eyelid being released by a finger that certainly wasn't his and it closed, revealing darkness again. There was a light slap to his left cheek and his brow furrowed. Then another slap but to the right cheek and he shifted uncomfortably, groaning at an oncoming headache. Suddenly he gasped as a searing pain tore through his whole body and instantly, his eyes flashed open.

"Woah, easy there, junior," came an American voice. He gently placed a hand on his arms. "You just fell off a building."

"W-what?"

"Dunno how you survived that but you only got a few cuts and bruises. A bit of a gash to the head, but I managed to patch that up, so expect a bit of a headache." The man craned his neck in all directions. He was in a white room.

"Where…" he trailed off. "Where am I?"

"Well you _should _know since you came in uninvited by the front entrance," the ex-Time Agent muttered. The man blinked in confusion and rubbed his eyes.

"I did?"

Jack frowned. "You collapsed in my arms about thirty minutes ago and I hooked you up to a life machine. You suddenly escaped the Hub and we had to find you. We found you jumping off the building and found your body on the ground and immediately got you back…" He said the last part almost too slowly. The man frowned.

"I… I jumped off a building?"

"You don't remember?" Jack boggled.

"That's impossible," came another voice. A tall man in a blue suit sauntered down the stairs studying some papers. "You just hooked him up to a life support machine because his hearts were both failing and when we find him, he's perfectly fine…" He looked up from the papers and noticed Jack next to the awoken man. "_We-ell_, except for the knock to the head and all," he quickly added.

"Care to explain?" Jack slowly asked with that same tone when he expected an answer. "Time Lords _do _have more dense bones than humans and a rapid healing factor." He hinted, gesturing at the man.

"No." The Doctor slammed the papers to a nearby surgical table and frowned at the man.

"Where am I?" the man declared.

"Torchwood," Jack chipped in.

"Torch-what?"

"It's a secret organisation that deals with aliens," the Doctor summarised, feeling a little himself. "Now tell me. What were you doing wondering into a place you've never heard of? You couldn't have just stumbled upon it."

"Unless he _did _know about Torchwood and decided to infiltrate the base," Jack interrupted, eyes narrowing. The ginger man frowned.

"What?!"

"What's your name?" the Doctor asked, ignoring the man's confused manner.

To his surprise, the man took a moment of thought before speaking. "Alex."

"Right… Alex…" he said, waiting for some sort of a continuation, but Alex simply frowned and the Doctor rolled his eyes. "You don't have a surname?"

Alex shrugged and the Doctor ran a hand through his hair.

"Okay… I'm the Doctor by the way. This is Jack," he said, nudging the ex-Time Agent.

Jack noticed the Doctor's suspicious tone. "Does his name ring any bells?"

The Doctor saw where he was trying to go. "Maybe, maybe not," he simply replied. Jack rolled his eyes.

"Why are you talking like I've done something wrong?" Alex murmured. The Doctor turned to him and crossed his arms.

"Well, it seems you've caused enough trouble to upset the Shadow Proclamation," the Doctor replied. "Care to explain?"

"Shadow what?"

"_Blimey_, you don't remember anything," Jack breathed.

"Has he been like that since he woke up?" the Time Lord boggled, taking a closer look at Alex in concern.

"Yeah, he couldn't recall his last events."

"What you can't remember jumping off a building?" the Doctor exclaimed. Alex huffed in annoyance.

"Oh, I'm _sorry_…" he snapped, hitting his the back of his head against the autopsy table.

"No don't do that," Jack murmured, cupping the back of Alex's head with his hands. "We might need to scan your head since it took quite a shock from the fall."

"Ten steps ahead of you," the Doctor interrupted, buzzing his sonic screwdriver at Alex and eventually pocketing the device without spending much time inspecting the results. "Concussed… he's got amnesia," he sighed. Jack whistled.

"Not surprised since he banged his head pretty hard from such a height…"

"Isn't that when someone loses their memory?" Alex questioned. "I saw it happen in a movie once."

"Yeah, except it doesn't take two hours to regain all your memories," the Doctor muttered. "This is going to be hard…"

"What is?"

"Well for starters, we don't know if you're even human," Jack chipped in.

"I _am _human," he protested, but noticed Jack shaking his head.

"Let's take this one step at a time," the Doctor explained slowly and seemingly more directed at Jack. "Where do you live?"

"I don't really have a permanent home," Alex said. The Doctor arched a brow. "I can't really stay in one place for too long," he quickly added.

"Sounds like someone I know," Jack murmured. The Doctor rolled his eyes and continued.

"Who are your parents? Any family?"

Alex took a long moment of thought, frowned and then shook his head. Jack, however, brought his hands to his mouth and tried not to show much emotion, whilst the Doctor looked at Alex with sad eyes.

"I'm sorry, I can try to remember," Alex panicked.

"No, no, it happens in _all_ amnesia cases," he waved off. That was a lie. He proceeded with another question. "What was the last thing you remembered before waking up here?"

Alex screwed his face in concentration before feebly shrugging. Jack was getting tired of the pointless questions and slammed a fist on the side of the autopsy table.

"Dammit, how are we supposed to help a man who only knows his name and the fact that he travels?" he growled. "There's gotta be more that you know or remember," he almost begged Alex.

"Jack," The Doctor warned.

"How about Gallifrey? Does that name seem any familiar to you?"

"JACK!" the Doctor yelled. "He's not a Time Lord for crying out loud. Just because he has two hearts, doesn't make him one. Don't think this is some sort of a sick joke," he snapped.

"Why can't you just accept he's a Time Lord?"

"Because he's _not_!"

"He's got two hearts!"

"I ended them! Everything's gone, even the Daleks."

"Yeah, the Daleks…" Jack replied with a sarcastic tone. "Well, it's not like Harriet Jones killed herself," he shouted, recalling a past memory. The Doctor growled.

"Shut up! You don't know a thing about what I'm going through. _Nine hundred years _of pain and suffering I had to go through."

"Well for your information, I've gone through all that in _two thousand years_."

"You spent your life being dead two thousand times!" the Doctor shrieked.

Before Jack could retaliate, a hesitant mumble distracted the two arguing men.

"Gallifrey…" Alex whispered, looking utterly distant; sadness showing his eyes. "Why does that name seem familiar?" He blinked, wiped his face and stared in surprise. "Doctor, Jack, why am I crying?"

"I don't know, why are you crying?" the Doctor answered back, studying him even more. Alex fell into yet another brief moment of thought before mumbling.

"It's like… there's this empty feeling inside."

"Oh my God," Jack gasped. The Doctor gazed at the ginger man for a moment before realisation hit him like a bomb.

"You… you don't remember _anything_?" the Time Lord croaked, a giant lump forming in his throat. His eyes bore the Alex's empty eyes. "You don't remember…"

At once, the Doctor walked out of the autopsy room.


	4. A Mystery Worth Solving

**Note: **Why not celebrate my 16 years of existence by giving you all a juicy 2k chapter?

Alright! Allons-y, Chapter 4!

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Chapter 4 - A Mystery Worth Solving

It had been a day since Alex awoke and he had been conscious about the situation he apparently found himself annoyingly stuck in. What that situation was, he just couldn't put a finger on it... To Jack's relief, Alex's amnesia wasn't severe and he knew the basics of simple everyday tasks, and that included making breakfast. Over night, he seemed to heal fast enough to get on his feet the next day – another fact to reinforce he was a Time Lord. The Doctor, however, had been cooped up in his TARDIS upon discovering the truth of Alex and Jack dared not to enter the blue box.

Alex looked up from his bowl of cereal and at Jack who entered the Torchwood conference room with some papers and a mug of coffee.

"I hope you didn't mind, I used your computer to research something half an hour ago," he called out to Jack. The ex-Time Agent arched a brow.

"Explains the weird internet history," he mumbled before gesturing for Alex to continue.

"On Yahoo Answers, they say pictures can jog your memory, or doing activities you used to do…" Jack looked up with hopeful eyes.

"And didya manage to regain any memories?" To his disappointment, Alex merely shook his head. Jack sat on a chair opposite Alex, rested his feet on the table and took a sip of coffee before grimacing at how strong he made the drink. Right about now, he _needed _Ianto's coffee.

"But I heard the most effective method is to go through a state of shock. Not necessarily an electrical shock or anything physically harming, but something that can make me get frightened or surprised like-"

All too suddenly Jack stood from his chair, whipped out his pistol from its holster and pointed it dangerously next to Alex's head. Alex shrieked and fell backwards from his chair and landed with a thud on the floor before Jack holstered the gun.

"Was that shocking enough for you?" Jack wondered.

"NO!" Alex yelled from under the table before peeping above the table and tentatively clambering back on his chair. "No memories, no."

Jack sighed and giggled. "That was quite funny."

"I haven't seen the Doctor since yesterday," the ginger man stated, rapidly changing the subject. Jack noticed his worried tone and gave a reassuring smile as he sat back down on his chair.

"He's just getting over the shock of finding another Time Lord."

"Why are you saying I'm a Time Lord, I'm human," he murmured, slightly annoyed. "Even those bipedal rhinos were calling me a Time Lord."

"How did you know about the rhinos? I thought you couldn't remember your previous events," Jack murmured. Alex shrugged. "Didn't you notice you've got two hearts? That's the undeniable sign of a Gallifreyan."

"A Galli-what?"

Jack sighed and Alex blurted a "sorry" before Jack waved it off.

"No, it's okay. Gallifreyans, or otherwise known as "Time Lords", are a race of very, _very _clever people from a planet called Gallifrey."

"Oh that's right, the Doctor mentioned Gallifrey last time. That means I'm alien?" Alex said the last part to calmly to be sane. Jack shifted uncomfortably.

"Well… yeah," he nervously said.

"Okay."

"…" Jack blinked at him. "And you're not freaking out?"

"I've been through worse."

"I thought you can't remember your previous events," Jack quipped again.

"I fell off a building," Alex said in a matter of fact tone, as if falling off a building was the worse thing a Time Lord could go through. Suddenly his eyes grew wide. "Jack…"

"Yeah?"

"I think… I think I remember something…"

Jack's head perked up. "Go on…"

"Well I was on a roof and these two-legged rhinos were after me. That was when I jumped off the building. They claimed to be the Shadow Proclamation the Doctor mentioned last night. But I don't know why they were after me. They said I was involved in some case, but I swear I've done nothing wrong. Actually, it was the third time they managed to track me down." Jack nodded.

"What else can you recall?"

"Everything!" Alex excitedly exclaimed. "I had bread and butter with a glass of milk for breakfast two days ago..." His mind suddenly being poured. "I saw a ginger cat a week ago by the alleyway and petted it… Oh my God, I spent £3.20 on a meal deal at Tesco's two days ago! Jack, I remember!"

"Sounds like you regained your memories in mere minutes," Jack said, impressed. "So could you explain why you came to Torchwood and collapsed in my arms begging for the Doctor?"

"I did?" The ex-Time Agent sighed. Way to spoil the good news…

"I feel like there's something missing, something I've forgotten…" Alex admitted.

It was true. He still doesn't know why the Shadow Proclamation were after him and he can't even remember about his own people or home planet, let alone what species he really is. Even their first encounter…

"Well it's making a bit of progress," Jack lied. "How didya remember all that?"

"It just suddenly came into my mind," Alex replied, shrugging. He changed the subject again. "Why did it look like the Doctor was angry with me?" Jack, yet again, sighed.

"The Doctor's also a Time Lord. He doesn't really like talking about it, but Gallifrey and the rest of the Time Lords died out in a war. For a man who only believes in fact and truth in what he sees, he would deny the existence of another Time Lord." Alex frowned.

"If all the Time Lords are gone, then how am I here?"

"That's for you to say… if only you remembered," Jack muttered.

"I don't understand. If I'm a Time Lord, wouldn't the Doctor have recognised me?" The ex-Time Agent shrugged.

"That's for him to answer…" He pointed at the TARDIS parked in the middle of the Hub. "Now finish your cereal and take a shower." Alex noticed the blue box and stared at it with interest. Jack noticed this.

"You said things could jog your memory?"

"Well, mostly pictures, but I'm assuming objects can jog your memory, too."

Jack's eyes glinted and with that, he stood up from his chair again and pulled Alex up resulting him in dropping a spoon of cereals he was about to put in his mouth and being dragged out of the room and down the stairs into the main Hub. Ignoring the constant protests from the man, Jack headed towards the TARDIS.

"Doc's not gonna like me for this, but it's worth a shot…"

They stopped in front of the ship before Alex gazed at it then back at Jack.

"What, it's just a 60's blue police box that shouldn't even be here."

Jack didn't reply and simply opened the doors to the blue box. He looked intently at the confused man and gestured at the open doors.

"You want us to get in there?" Alex laughed nervously at the blue box. "It's a bit… tight."

Jack already went inside before Alex could say anything.

"Jack?"

"C'mon in here! It's a bit tight," the American called out playfully from inside. Alex looked around, praying to God no one saw him walk into a box with this impossible man, only to be greeted by a large room with a glowing green column running straight through the middle. Jack stood in front of him grinning. "Well?"

Alex blinked and subconsciously walked towards the console, examining some controls. Jack hurried towards him and stopped him from pushing any buttons.

"You wouldn't wanna touch that," he murmured, lifting Alex's hand from a big red button. Alex frowned at Jack and chuckled.

"What are you talking about, that button looks red to stop people from pressing it. It's just the dampers. From the looks of it, the pilot of this ship enjoys a loud ride…"

Jack gaped at him. "And since when did you know that?" Alex shrugged and continued to circle around the console with curiosity. "Right… so does anything here jog any memories?" Sadly, Alex shook his head.

"Something's buzzing at the back of my head like something's desperate to get into my mind, but nothing…"

Jack sighed. "Right," he announced, clapping his hands. "Time to get outta here before Doc sees us."

**…**

Within the depths of the TARDIS, the Doctor began pacing around in a white room, which held the Matrix – the very room consisting of a supercomputer developed by none other than the Time lords. It was a Time Lord's storehouse of knowledge; it generated virtual worlds at the user's request and the Doctor never intended to use it. That was until now…

"Help me out for once," he whispered to his sentient ship only to be greeted with a psychic groan. "Prove to me that they were gone." He hesitated before picking up the almost crown-like contraption and placing it on his head. Within the blink of an eye he found himself in what he like to call a "stimulated environment". To be precise, he found himself standing in the corner of his bedroom in Gallifrey. Frankly he wasn't surprised to see a young version of himself sitting by his study desk tinkering with electronic parts and scattered components spread across his table. It was when his hearts began to wrench as he saw his older brother, Irving "Brax" Braxiatel; enter his room, looking a little distressed. His brother composed himself before pulling a smile.

"Hey, Theta! What'cha doing there?"

The young Doctor shook his head petulantly before grinning at his brother. "Brax, don't call me Theta anymore, I'm the Doctor now." His brother gaped at him before getting where his little brother was getting at.

"Oh, you passed the Time Lord initiation, well done!" he congratulated before patting the little boy's back. "What made you choose that name?" The Doctor shrugged.

"It sounded cool." Brax rolled his eyes.

"And there I thought you matured and would say something along the lines of _"because Doctor means healer and I want to help others,"_" He sighed. His little brother giggled. "So what about Koschei?" His brother seemed a little hesitant.

"He called himself the Master…"

Brax blinked, finding the name rather cheesy. "Oh…" He tried to change the subject. "Did you memorise your introductory speech like I taught you to?" The Doctor nodded.

"_"I swear to protect the ancient Law of Gallifrey with all my might and brain. I will to the end of my days, with justice and with honour temper my actions and my thoughts,"_" he recited before turning back to the electronics on his table. Brax's brother smiled.

"Good." He ruffled his little brother's hair and chuckled at the slight recoil he made. He noticed the bits of metal all over the Doctor's table. "So what are you doing with a Xion crystal and a bunch of electronic components?" The Doctor guiltily looked up at his brother.

"Trying to build a sonic screwdriver. Don't tell mother and father," he quickly added. Brax simply laughed and smiled in reassurance.

"Cross my hearts," he replied. "Now will you promise me something in return?" The Doctor looked back at his older brother and nodded. Brax composed himself and sighed, preparing for what he was going to say. "I'll have to go somewhere for a while." At once the Doctor's eyes widened and he whined.

"No!" he protested, grabbing his brother's red robes. "Please, you only just came back from Morok two months ago, I can't lose you again!" Brax looked at his brother with sympathetic eyes.

"I'm sorry, Theta. It's really important. Ocean levels in Aridius are declining at alarming rates and I got called to monitor the planet's orbit."

"But Aridius is 5 billion light years away!" the Doctor exclaimed. "Please don't go… not after the last time..." his eyes began to water.

"Theta, it's just routine stuff to make sure none of Aridius' activities will affect any future events." His little brother relaxed a little.

"How long will you be?" he murmured.

"Ten Aridian years."

"What?!" the Doctor cried out. "That's like 3.56 Earth years!" Brax slowly nodded and gave a weary smile.

"It's too late, Theta. I accepted the mission in front of the Lord President himself." He brushed his little brother from his robes and stood up. He walked towards the hallways and turned back at his tear stricken brother. "I'll be leaving in two minutes. See you later, _Doctor_," he smirked.

There was a flash of white light and the Doctor found himself standing on the scarred lands of Gallifrey during the Time War, out of all times. There parked dozens of battle TARDISes along the field of red grass as shrieking Time Lord soldiers ran past him. The putrid smell of blood cloaked the atmosphere. Chilling sound's of the words "EXTERMINATE" were heard continuously as if on a loop along with the constant rumble of explosions of time bombs and the blood curdling screams of dying men; the psychic bonds between every Time Lord being severed within this very moment driving every single Time Lord insane, driving them to death. The Doctor witnessed the horrifying event from his metaphorical barrier between reality and illusion. Nearby, a gas bomb detonating leaving a cloud of poisonous cloud chasing the Time Lords and leaving corpses in its wake. Those strong or lucky to survive the gas died in less than forty seconds after. Even the mental image of it all made him absolutely sick. He couldn't take any more of it and instantly tore his mind from the Matrix, ripping the headpiece from his head and throwing it across the now white room. The Doctor stared almost teary eyed at the empty space where a dead body of a Time Lord used to be when in his stimulated environment. His mouth was open, screaming silently as sweat beaded his forehead. He began to hyperventilate, choking out and bile nearly rising in his throat when he immediately dashed across the TARDIS hallway to the bathroom.

_They were gone, that's for sure. That Alex is just impossible…_

**…**

Jack's vortex manipulator blipped and he simply dismissed it as a harmless thing since Ianto warned him of the faulty alarms. He looked out from his office to the lower level.

"What's that? I do like a beeping object."

The sudden break in silence made Jack jump a meter in the air before he turned around and noticed the Doctor walking towards him.

"Holy crap, Doctor, don't scare me like that. _Again_," he quickly added, recalling yesterday's encounter. Then he pressed his vortex manipulator and the beeping stopped.

"Where's Alex?" the Time Lord asked, ignoring Jack's last remark.

"Taking a shower."

"Any luck on his memories?" he wondered, fiddling with Jack's desk lamp.

"As a matter of fact, he managed to recall the events on the rooftop before he jumped. He said the Shadow Proclamation was after him for no reason – he didn't do anything wrong if that's what they were after him for. He even managed to remember everything in minutes, but nothing of Gallifrey or Time Lords. Not even his sudden turn up before jumping off the building. He's acting as if he's perfectly back to normal, but with unnoticed gaps in his mind."

The Doctor took a moment of thought before a thought crossed his mind. "Do you think he might have suffered amnesia _before _jumping off the building?"

"You mean he lost his memories before that? Yeah, it's as if he doesn't know a single thing about the first portion of his life…"

The Doctor nodded. "Probably explains why he remembers everything except Gallifrey. I mean how could a Time Lord forget about Gallifrey? But then again… he might not be a Time Lord." Jack rolled his eyes. The Doctor was _still _in denial. "Looks like he's gonna be staying with us for a while and I'm gonna have to delay my trip to Mars…" he sighed.

"You're gonna have to accept he's a Time Lord."

The Doctor sighed. "I saw the Time Lords die out, how can he even exist?"

"Ask yourself that about the Master," Jack quipped. The Doctor couldn't argue with that and finally concluded.

"Guess he's a mystery worth solving…"

Jack's vortex manipulator blipped again and this time, he looked at it anxiously.

"What's happening?" the Time Lord asked, a bit more concerned this time.

"Silent alarms, Ianto said they've gone faulty and he'll fix it when he comes back."

The Doctor didn't take that lightly.

"Jack, we have another Time Lord in a secret base who's being chased by the Shadow Proclamation! How can you think of that as a false alarm?!"

"Relax, Doc! No one's entered Torchwood. I've checked all our entrances."

Right on cue, they heard a scream somewhere in the Hub.


	5. Bye

**Note: **Whoops! Really short chapter... but action packed(?)

The next chapter will be longer and put up soon... after a heads up from one of my proof readers... pinky swear. *waits too patiently to be sane*

* * *

Chapter 5 - Bye

Alex stared wide-eyed at the hideous blue bipedal reptilian creature creeping in on him. He backed away slowly, contemplating on what the hell was happening.

"You will come with me, Time Lord," the creature hissed with it's fork-like tongue sticking out and flopping in every direction. It's yellow eyes training in on the ginger man.

"H-How do you know me?" Alex stammered. He tensed as a wall came into contact with his back. He was trapped. Suddenly his face was greeted with a knife as the creature waved it threateningly by his neck.

"Don't make me force you to regenerate!" it shouted, swinging the knife in a dangerous manner. Alex whimpered and a tear formed in his eye.

"I-I don't know what you're talking about," he choked out.

The creature's bony head came nearer until it was face to face with Alex's. It gave a low blood-curdling growl before it spoke, giving a whiff of putrid breath. "Just come with me and I won't have to kill you…"

Alex scrunched his eyes and subconsciously punched a tight compact fist against the creature's solar plexus. To his surprise, It double over, shrieking, dropping it's knife and clutching it's stomach as the Time Lord legged it out of the changing room and through the corridors. He could hear the creature's screams and quickened his pace, running through door to door. Where the hell was Jack and the Doctor?! He turned left and began panting. His head still throbbed from his fall and his body ached. A low-pitched growl from far behind was all it took to make him start on a run. He began to cry again, feeling utterly helpless. He had his fists, but that _thing _had a knife. He knew his fate but why was he still running? He'd been going for a solid two minutes and dared not to stop for breath. He felt a searing pain and his leg suddenly screamed in agony causing him to collapse. He noticed a knife protruding from his calf and orangey-red blood pouring from the wound. The sight of the wound alone was horrifying enough for Alex to faint. He didn't notice the spindly blue fingers wrap around his throat.

"Oi!"

The creature's head jerked up from Alex's body to meet the eyes of a tall man in a blue pinstripe suit.

"Why don't you pick on someone your own size?"

"This man is responsible for case 1011," the creature hissed.

The Doctor stared in shock. "Case 1011? You don't mean-"

The creature pulled out the knife from Alex's leg and brought it close to his neck, shutting up the Doctor altogether. He almost yelped, but the creature whipped out a compact laser gun from its holster and pointed it at the Doctor.

"Don't you dare move," it hissed. From then on, it was a staring contest. The Doctor glared at the creature's yellow eyes as it tightened its grip around the gun. He dared not to move as he hastily continued staring at the creature as if it would drop it's knife and gun out of mercy.

"What species are you?" he finally called out.

"Bounty hunters do not reveal themselves."

"Oh so you're a bounty hunter!" the Doctor realised. "Who are you working for?"

"Do as so much as utter a syllable and I'll kill this man and shoot you before you can say "bye" – "

_BANG!_

The Doctor scrunched his eyes, but realised he was still alive. He peeped open an eye and saw the dead form of the reptilian lying next to Alex's body. He turned around and saw Jack; arms outstretched holding a gun smoking on the end.

"Bye," came the American voice.

**…**

He woke up on the autopsy table. Again.

"Hello, handsome," Jack grinned, looking at Alex.

He blinked and frowned. "What happened to the blue lizard thingy?"

"Took care of him," he replied. Alex tried to get up and hissed at the searing pain on his right leg. He saw the bloody state his calf was in. Dried blood still smeared around a white dressing. Jack gave a weary smile. "Sorry, it was a messy job and I managed to stop the bleeding," Alex groaned.

"I just took a shower," he whined and Jack laughed. He noticed the absence of another person and looked back at Jack. "Where's the Doctor?"

"He went back into the TARDIS. Said no one is to disturb him. He's never acted like this before…"

"Is it because of me?"

Jack looked at the Time Lord with sympathetic eyes. "No, or course not."

**[30 minutes ago]**

_Jack hurried over towards Alex's body and picked him up under the armpits. "Doc, help me get Alex to the autopsy table."_

_"Wait a minute…" The Doctor nervously approached the dead reptilian and searched through it. He found a piece of paper in it's inner jacket pocket, skimmed through it, eyes widening even more after every line he read._

_"What's up?" Jack asked feeling concerned. The Doctor looked up with worry written all over his face._

_"Nothing," he vaguely replied, running out of the corridor._

_The Doctor found himself in the TARDIS console room re reading the paper:_

**_WANTED – Shadow Proclamation S rank criminal for GENOCIDE_**

**_Time Lord by the name of Alex Johnson for involvement in case 1011._**

**_Female. Black hair. 5ft 4. _**

**_Last seen in a pink top, white jacket, blue jeans and glasses._**

**_REWARD_**

**_One million credits. _**

"You are not possible," he muttered, pocketing the piece of paper and browsing through the Gallifreyan database on his monitor.


	6. He or She?

**Note: **Oh boy, that was probably the fastest update so far *raises hands in triumph*

* * *

Chapter 6 - He or She?

Alex perched on the autopsy table as Jack ran a head scan on him.

"You know, the Doctor always wanted to be ginger," Jack mumbled as he studied the results on the monitor. Alex snorted.

"Really? I'd happily give him my hair. People like to make fun of ginger people…"

"Don't say that to him," the ex-Time Agent chuckled before giving him a nod. "Your health is in pretty tip top shape, but I can't guarantee that since I'm not a proper doctor."

"That means you're letting me go?" Alex asked, feeling a little hopeful.

"Not really," Jack murmured, grabbing his arm. "We don't want to let you loose whilst the Shadow Proclamation is still out there hunting you down," he said in answer to Alex's groan.

"I haven't even done anything to upset them," he protested but Jack shook his head.

"They claimed you were involved in case 1011. Does that ring any bells?"

Alex shook his head. "I swear. I've done nothing. Cross my hearts."

"Well, I can't argue with that," Jack murmured as he circled the autopsy table.

"There's something else, isn't there?" Alex questioned. "It's to do with my memory isn't it?" Jack sighed and leaned against a nearby surgical table.

"Doesn't it bother you that you never knew you were a Time Lord? Or your home planet?"

They were suddenly disturbed by the Doctor's calls from the main Hub. Jack looked back at the ginger Time Lord and gave him a wry smile. "Stay here."

He turned on his heel and bounded up the stairs two by two. The Doctor was slumped on the sofa with a frown on his face.

"What's wrong?" The Time Lord's face perked up and he ran a hand through his hair making it stand on end.

"Case 1011. I've read about it. It's linked to the Time War, Jack," the Doctor murmured.

"You're kidding."

"I wish I was…" the Doctor muttered. He handed Jack the piece of paper he retrieved from the bounty hunter and Jack read it. "Seems like Alex has accidentally gotten herself into a bit of trouble…"

Jack looked back at the Doctor confused.

"Genocide?" he boggled. Then something else written on the paper grabbed his attention. "Alex is a _female_?!"

"Must be a past regeneration," the Doctor summarised. "It's rare for a Time Lady to switch genders upon regeneration, or for a Time Lord to do so, too." Jack grinned.

"Think you can swap genders?" The Doctor rolled his eyes.

"Stop it." He propped himself up on the sofa and buried is face in his hands. "Her name sounded slightly familiar, it was just the face I didn't recognise…"

"So you _do _know her."

The Doctor nodded and stared at the grey floor, looking distant. "I was looking through the Gallifreyan databases in the TARDIS. She was on the exploration squad. They were sent out to search for worlds that can help us in the war. Stumbled upon a level 5 world and they refused to engage in such an event. The Time Lords wouldn't tolerate it and threatened to kill them all if they didn't co operate…" The Doctor sighed and cursed Rassilon under his breath. Jack swore he almost saw his eyes water up for a moment there… "The Aridians did nothing to deserve that fate. Rassilon ordered the exploration squad to eliminate every species on the planet. He didn't want to get the blame and made it look like they did it. No wonder the Shadow Proclamation is after Alex. She's the last of the exploration squad…"

"My God…" Jack breathed. "But how did she end up here?"

"That's still something I've yet to find out…"

Jack hesitated. "Should we tell Alex?" The Doctor immediately shook his head.

"We can't just throw her… him into the deep end. I think it's best he doesn't know of his horrific past." Jack nodded before handing back the piece of paper back to the Doctor.

"What about the Shadow Proclamation?"

"I'll sort them out," the Doctor declared with defiance in his eyes. "Rassilon brought this upon us. That was uncalled for."

It was from then on Jack confirmed there was nothing stopping him.

"What about the blue reptilian creature?" the Doctor asked, his demeanour suddenly fluctuating. "Did you manage to sort it out with it's family?" Jack nodded.

"Found out his species from the Torchwood database. He descended from the Reptoid race. I've transmatted the body back to his family and covered up his back-story so he won't look to shame." The Doctor nodded sincerely and clambered from the sofa and started walking back to his TARDIS. Then he looked back at Jack with sadness in his eyes.

"Shame… we didn't know the Reptoid's name…"

**…**

"So, Alex!" the Doctor called out as he walked out from Jack's office shrugging on his long brown coat. "Fancy a trip across space?" At once, the young Time Lord's face lit up – something he never thought he'd react to.

"You're kidding me, right?" the ginger man chuckled. The Doctor grinned and pulled him up from the sofa, clearly in the middle of eating pizza. "What about Jack?"

"Oh, don't worry bout him!" he vaguely replied, pulling Alex towards the TARDIS.

"Where are we going?" he wondered as the Doctor fumbled around in his pockets. He didn't reply as he produced a key from his pocket and inserted it into the door. He hummed in approval as the door clicked and pushed the door inwards and dragged Alex into the ship. "The sign on your door says "pull to open" you just pushed it." The Doctor shut the door and arched a brow.

"So?" He dashed towards the console and began his frantic activity around the console.

"Where are we going?" Alex repeated, looking intently at the Doctor who was already taking it out on the console. He looked back at Alex with an infectious grin making him grin, too.

"You better hold on tight."

The Doctor dramatically pulled a lever and the TARDIS did it's usual lurch into the Time Vortex. Alex flung to the floor, completely taken by shock.

"Where are we going?" he shouted, feeling a little hesitant.

"I don't know!" the Doctor laughed. "I set her to random."

Suddenly the TARDIS was thrown around quite violently – Something the Doctor got used to, however, it didn't feel right at all… and considering all journeys in the TARDIS were pretty hectic and bumpy, this particular lurch was a bad lurch...

"Does your ship usually fly like this?" Alex boggled. He wrapped his arms round a TARDIS coral beam, clinging onto dear life.

"Yes," the Doctor lied, walloping a panel with a rubber mallet before being thrown off his knees.

"Right…"

Suddenly, the monitor started beeping and the Doctor glared at it. Then he gasped. "Something's disabled the TARDIS' defences and now they're pulling us out of the Time Vortex… how is that possible?" He ran his hand through his hair and scrunched the bridge of his nose. Alex watched the Doctor busy himself with the console. He wished he could do something but what did he know of flying a living space ship? "Brace yourselves, Alex," the Doctor muttered. The TARDIS came to a standstill and Alex looked back at the Doctor for help.

"Where are we?" he asked for what was the third time that day.

"I don't know," he murmured, picking himself from the pilot's chair and brushing down his suit. "But whatever is outside those doors can pull out a time capsule in the midst of vortex travel against the natural forward progression of the fourth dimension, let alone temporarily disable TARDIS defences. That's tricky stuff-"

He was interrupted as the TARDIS doors suddenly slammed open and five Judoon stormed through, guns held high and aiming at the two Time Lords.

"Oh my God, it's those rhino aliens from when I jumped off the building," Alex exclaimed.

"They're called Judoon and now's not the time to discuss stories about jumping off buildings," the Doctor muttered. "Raise your hands, we can't cause any uproar." Alex did what he was told and frowned.

"Are we being arrested?"

"Yes, now shut up and move."

The Judoon grabbed the Doctor's arms and shoved him out of the TARDIS and into a grand white hall with Alex in tow with his own Judoon restraining him. A red-eyed woman in a black dress approached them with a grim expression on her face. "I am the Shadow Architect."

"Yes, I know who you are," the Doctor waved off. The Architect glared at the Time Lord. "Doctor, I am arresting you for aiding a criminal. Your TARDIS will be confiscated and you shall not say any more before the trial other wise they can be used against you."

"What?!"

She turned to Alex, ignoring the Doctor's protests.

"Alex Johnson. You are arrested for involvement in case 1011 and the attempt to escape custody of the Shadow Proclamation. You shall not say any more before the trial other wise they can be used against you."

"What the hell is this case 1011?!" Alex shrieked, trying to wriggle free of the Judoon's grasp.

"You shall not say any more before the trial other wise they can be used against you," the lady repeated coldly. A Judoon moved towards her and grunted a few words before she groaned. Then she glared at the Doctor and Alex. "We cannot take you into trial yet as along with several witness reports, there aren't enough evidence to prove you guilty." She looked at the Judoon. "Take them to the cells. Unless you don't come up with a confession within twenty-four Earth hours, we will execute you if need to be. And don't get cocky, Doctor. We know that Time Lords have regenerative abilities."

The Time Lords were dragged towards a lift. A rhino pressed a button and the Doctor felt the lift go down… no, down was bad. Very, _very _bad… He looked back at Alex and gave a wry smile of reassurance. "I'll get us out of this," he mouthed. The lift jolted to a halt and the silver doors broke apart, revealing a never-ending corridor of cells lined along both sides of the walls. They were led past nine empty cells and stopped at the tenth cell, which was surprisingly already occupied. The Doctor stared at the man inside the cell.

"You've got to be kidding me," the Doctor muttered, still staring inside the cell.

"Well apparently I was accused of aiding a criminal," the man quipped. The Doctor groaned at that American accent.

"Jack?" Alex wondered. The Doctor groaned.

"I am _not _sharing a cell with you."

"Why not? We can be new cell buddies," the American mused.

"Stop it."

The Doctor was sharply nudged by a Judoon and he groaned as the force field that sealed Jack's cell sizzled and lowered. He trudged inside, followed by Alex who was shoved in before the force field shot back up at once. Jack arched a brow.

"I come back to the Hub after paying the pizza delivery boy to see the TARDIS disappear and suddenly a platoon of bipedal rhinos teleport into a highly secured base and arrest me, demanding where the TARDIS is," he summarised too calmly to be sane, staring wearily at the Doctor.


	7. Dark

**Note: ***sees the last update date and winces*

* * *

Chapter 7 - Dark

**[Third Hour]**

They were sitting inside their shared cell, trying to occupy themselves with whatever distracted them. Alex glared at the Doctor. He had the air of an annoyed boy who'd just been told something - but not the whole of it. "What's happening, Doctor?" he pressed, breaking the silence. "Who are these Judoon and who's that lady? What's the Shadow Proclamation and why have they been chasing me all my life?"

"Blimey, you ask too much questions," the Doctor murmured, fiddling with his sonic screwdriver. He was perched by a make shift bed. Alex growled and clenched a fist to prevent him from throwing a tantrum.

"Doctor, we're going to get _executed _for things we haven't done. Don't you have the downright decency to at least panic?!" he shrieked.

Suddenly a Judoon thumped it's fist against the force fields, ordering the three to shut up. Alex scowled and glared back at the Doctor who was beginning to look irritated as well.

"I'm trying to find the right setting on my sonic screwdriver to disable the force fields without triggering the alarms, followed by disabling the security cameras, I can get us outta here… but it' could have been done earlier if you could just _shut up_," he snapped. Alex retreated a little before Jack chipped in.

"If we… _when _we escape, do you know how we would get the hell outta here? You don't even know where the TARDIS is." The Doctor waved his sonic screwdriver in front of Jack with that expression on his face that shouted "aren't I brilliant?!"

"Ten steps ahead of you. The TARDIS activated security protocols number four. That means if she's under attack, she will send out a distress signal only Time Lords can decode. Fortunately for me, there are no other Time Lords besides myself, and Alex who has no clue how to even decipher Gallifreyan signals." Alex rolled his eyes at that. "Once we get out, I'll use the sonic to track the frequencies the TARDIS is transmitting." Jack stared at him.

"Have I told you how brilliant you are?"

"I've always been brilliant," the Doctor grinned. Jack rolled his eyes and looked at Alex.

"He's got such a giant ego hasn't he?" he said out loud. Alex smirked.

"It's bigger than his head considering his big Time Lord brain-"

"Oi!" he pouted then humming in approval as he raised his sonic screwdriver and studied it for a moment before aiming it at the force fields. "The sonic's ready. Brace yourselves."

He pressed the sonic device and with a sizzle, the force field circuits burn out and the electric barrier lowered. The Doctor was about to head out when Jack grabbed his arm. He pulled out his pistol and shifted in front of the Doctor, his back against the cell wall peering around for any security cameras. He spotted one on the upper level and another along his right. He looked back at the Doctor.

"Three security cameras at 11 o'clock and 3 o'clock from your position," he announced and looked back down at his sonic screwdriver. "You ready?" The Doctor nodded. "I'll be in front on the look out and your shield. We can't risk losing you since you know the TARDIS' location and you need to get Alex to a safe place." The Doctor couldn't argue with that, no matter how much he didn't like the "shield" bit. But Jack was already checking his gun barrels were in check so he readied his sonic screwdriver and looked at Alex for reassurance.

"Everything's gonna be okay, Alex," the Time Lord said and a weary smile. Alex gave a tentative nod as the Doctor spun on his heel to take out two security cameras with the press of the sonic screwdriver all in one swift movement. At once, Jack bolted out of the cell gun pointed in front of him with the Doctor and Alex in tow. With the sonic screwdriver constantly beeping, Jack tried his best not to complain about the sound it made. They were meant to be discrete, not loud…

"Is there any way, of making that a bit more quiet?" he muttered, swinging his gun around as they turned a corner through the seemingly long white corridors. The Doctor scowled, slightly taken aback.

"I reduced the sound output by fifteen percent and you demand for more? Well, I'm so sorry, Captain Jack Harkness," he scoffed. Jack rolled his eyes. Then he suddenly slammed his hand on a wall button as a nearby door slid open and he shoved the two Time Lords in it. The Doctor found himself in a black room. From the looks of it, they stumbled upon an archive room. He laid there on his bottom slightly taken by surprise as Jack swiftly shut the door and let out a sigh of relief. He looked at the Doctor and gave a wry smile.

"Sorry, saw two Judoon heading our way."

"A little word of warning would have helped," he murmured, picking himself up and brushing his suit.

"Where are we?" Alex wondered, looking around at the pile of files scattered all over the room and walking around to take a closer look.

"Archive room," the Doctor replied. He sniffed and looked back at Jack, giving him a nod. "We should get going before they realise we've escaped." Jack nodded back and raised his gun. The Doctor proceeded towards the door when something caught his attention. Then he looked at Jack and Alex. "You two go ahead. The TARDIS is in storage floor 237. I'll catch up with you as soon as I sort something out."

"I'm not leaving you behind," Jack declared with steel in his voice.

Suddenly, the room turned red as alarms sounded throughout the whole building. Alex began panicking as Jack maintained his cool.

"You need to leave," the Doctor said louder over the sirens. "I'll catch up with you, cross my hearts." The sounds of even footsteps of marching Judoon were growing more and more audible and the Doctor was literally trying to shove Alex and the ex-Time Agent out of the door. "Get out now!" He pushed a button on the wall and the slid open. What used to be white corridors now flashed red and the silhouettes of rhino shaped heads can be seen. Jack looked back at the Doctor with desperate eyes before tapping Alex and urging him to come. The two legged it into the hallway until their forms grew smaller and smaller into the distance. The Doctor dashed back into the room and rummaged through the never-ending piles of paper in a hurry. For a high-tech place like the Shadow Proclamation, they sure favoured using paper… Then he stopped and saw the red box with the words _"Case 1011" _printed on it in black letters. Slowly, he opened the box to find a white cube nestled inside it. It was a hologram cube. More footsteps were heard outside the corridor and a feminine voice came through the intercoms.

_"Escaped prisoners. I repeat. Escaped prisoners. Look out for three humanoids: a medium sized man with ginger hair. About five foot five. The second is a tall man with black hair. Around six foot. The third is another tall man with brown hair. Around six foot as well."_

"Six foot _one_," the Doctor corrected before pressing the hologram cube. The device glowed white, giving that similar appearance to that of a Time Lord psychic container. Then the image of a menu appeared. The Doctor raised a brow. "Ooohhh… Added Reality Interface!" he mused. He touched the hologram as if it were touch screen and it came to life. A file of pictures lined the screen and he swiped his hand to the left, rolling through pictures relating to case 1011. Then that voice from the intercom started speaking.

_"Escaped prisoners…"_

The Doctor panicked as he touched at another menu, revealing files and news articles on the case. He skimmed through them, eyes widening at each article he swiped through; the truth suddenly pouring into his mind and anger churning up inside him. The sound of marching footsteps was clearly audible from out the doors.

_"Escaped prisoners…"_

He put on his glasses and touched another menu revealing pictures of all the Time Lords on the exploration squad. Along with fourteen other explorers, there was the picture of what seemed to look like Alex's past female incarnation, according to the description he read on the "WANTED" paper. The voice on the intercom started speaking again.

_"Escaped prisoners…"_

That was his cue. The Doctor pressed the cube and it glowed no more; the hologram fragmenting and disappearing. He pocketed the device and darted towards the door, hand slamming the wall button as the door slid open. Only to be smacked in the head with the butt of a gun and get knocked out.

**…**

Alex had lost Jack by now in the never-ending corridors and sudden turn-ups of Judoon. He whimpered as he ran wherever his legs took him. He didn't know what to do and his head started throbbing again. But that didn't stop him from running. He heard the even footsteps of marching Judoon grow louder and louder as he kept running and running. He had to think logically - the Doctor said the TARDIS is in storage floor 237 so he had to find a lift. Well, at least he was making progress… The ginger Time Lord dashed around almost idiotically, desperately looking for signs. Then his mind started jumping to negative conclusions. Wait… he didn't know how to pilot the TARDIS, what's the point of him even going to floor 237? Then the thought's got worse. What if he didn't make it on time? What if the Doctor got caught? What if Jack got caught? What if…

His hearts skipped a beat and the next thoughts and he scowled at himself. If only he had his memories he could have at least flown the TARDIS to save the others. If he knew how to fight, he could fight the Judoon head on and save them. If he had that Time Lord knowledge the Doctor claimed he would have had if he had his memories, he could have thought of a plan to save them… right now he started bringing everything upon himself. He didn't notice a pinprick on his right bicep until his body felt like it was trying to fight something off. Alex glanced at his arm and to his sheer horror, noticed a needle protruding from his arm.

At once, he felt a foreign drug pump into his body. It all turned dark from then on.


	8. The Truth Hurts

**Note: ***looks at last update date* Ohoho...

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Chapter 8 - The Truth Hurts

**[Fifth Hour]**

"Hey, Handsome. Wake up," came a voice.

"Leave me alone," Alex murmured back, not having enough energy to shout. He suddenly felt a light slap to the cheek and instantly shot up. He blinked a few times before his vision focused on Jack's face.

"Hello, Handsome," he began playfully, smiling charismatically.

"Do you always wake people up by slapping and flirting with them?" Jack laughed at that remark but said nothing. Then Alex realised he was back in their white cell. "What happened?"

"The Doctor didn't catch up with us so I went back to look for him. That was then I lost you. I saw Doc knocked out, but got ambushed from behind before I even got to him… looks like they got you, too," he said. He scratched the back of his head and suddenly halted. He felt a little light and looked at his hips. His gun was taken… then something else got him by surprise. "Crap, they took my vortex manipulator…"

"Your what?"

"My watch," Jack lied. "Oh, and look," he raised his head to reveal a silver collar around his neck. "Collars that bound to our DNA and give us a nasty electric shock if positioned outside a certain radius. Looks like we won't be able to get outta here that easily…" Alex stared at the collar wide-eyed and noticed he was wearing one, too.

"Jack, what the hell is going on," Alex demanded. "Everything here seems to be revolving around me and there's something in your eyes, I can tell. You're hiding something from me. You and the Doctor." Jack stared intently at him and sighed. "Tell me, Jack. What is this case 1011."

"It's best you don't know."

"Tell me!" Jack vigorously shook his head.

"I'm so, so sorry," he murmured, burying his head in his hands. "I wish I can but I can't."

They were both cut off when they heard the sound of a transmat being activated. Jack looked towards the force field and noticed two bowls of what appeared to look like thick green porridge. He grimaced at the contents of the bowl, but none the less picked them up and handed one to Alex. "Eat up, you'll need this for the whole day." Alex took a whiff of the suspicious green and apparently edible substance and blanched.

"It's like snot that smells like feet!" he cried out, extending his arms to keep the bowl away from him. Jack snorted at the remark.

"It's just like ready made porridge with the vitamins and minerals needed for a whole day all packed into one bowl. You're gonna need that since we won't eat until the next day… that's if we still make it out. It's disgusting, but filling. You either eat or starve."

Alex studied Jack casually eating the contents of the bowl in a cool manner.

"How are you doing that?" he exclaimed, looking at Jack and back to his bowl.

"Trust me, I feel like puking but I'd like to keep my dignity thank you very much."

**[Sixth Hour]**

_The Doctor, still young and fighting, found himself on stand-by from the Time War. He was resting in the grand hall along with many other soldiers of the Time War. He smiled as a fellow soldier approached him, but his face fell when he was greeted with solemn eyes. He gave the Doctor a sealed envelope and mumbled a few words of sorrow. Feeling utterly anxious, the Doctor opened the envelope and read the first lines: "Due to complications during the Aridius Extermination, we utter with great sympathy of the death of Irving Braxiatel."_

_All at once, his eyes welled up. He clenched his fist, focusing all his love and despair into that white-knuckled fist, and punched the wall. He shouted, as if it would let go all his anger and he cried. His mind an emotional turmoil, let loose the grey clouds as great salty drops cursed down his cheeks._

**…**

The Doctor woke up from another nightmare to a nasty headache. He squinted the moment a beam of bright light was shone against his face and realised he was being watched. It was when he found himself sitting on a chair, arms and legs restrained did he realise he was going to be interrogated. The lady in the black dress – the Shadow Architect entered the black room and eyed the Doctor, making him squirm under her gaze.

"We know it was you who was responsible for the escape plan," the Architect coldly began. "You're clever, Doctor. I'll give you that." The Doctor grinned at that, but it soon faded when she glared at him. "You stole a hologram cube on case 1011 from one of our archive rooms. Care to explain?" Before the Doctor could even utter a syllable, the lady interrupts. "Maybe you know so much of case 1011, maybe you were in some way connected to it, maybe you stole it to get rid of all the evidence in that cube." The Doctor stared at her in total disbelief.

"You think I'd do that?" he grated.

"You killed our hired bounty hunters who was only trying to help the Law," she said, ignoring the Doctor's last question.

"He was about to kill Alex!"

"We never stated whether we wanted him dead or alive."

The Doctor stared at her yet again. "What kind of a police force are you?" he pressed.

"What do you know of case 1011?" she asked, ignoring the Doctor again.

"Nothing," he snapped, staring her hard in the eyes. The lady sighed and snapped her fingers. Two Judoon approached from behind her and she faced them.

"Do whatever it takes to make him speak of the case. Use force if you have to and don't give him any food," she ordered. "Start with level one interrogation and go up the ladder if he persists." Then she turned to the Doctor. "You have seventeen hours until we execute you." The Doctor continued to stare at her, trying to show that her words meant nothing to him when frankly; he was beginning to feel terrified. Then she left the room and the two Judoon approached the Time Lord both wielding cattle prods. The Doctor sighed. Looks like a long night…

**[Thirteenth Hour]**

He really couldn't sleep. From time to time, Alex would wake up and he was already starting to lose track of time. Jack was already awake and sat hunched against a cell wall, fatigue clearly shown on his face. The Doctor still hadn't returned and for the first time, they began to worry. Without him, it was like their lucky mascot had been taken away. Not that he generally brought luck all the time…

"Morning," the ex-Time Agent huffed, slowly picking himself up and stretching. "Sleep well?" Alex groaned in answer. He let his mouth hang open and finally, the madness began.

"I'm so thirsty!" he suddenly shouted. Jack jumped at Alex's sudden mood swing. "What the hell have I done to deserve this?!" he screamed beginning to thump his head against the wall.

"Alex, keep it down!" Jack hissed.

"Don't tell me what to do, idiot!" He smacked his head against the wall. "Stupid head, why can't I remember?!"

"Alex!" Jack darted to him, grabbing his arms. "Snap out of it, it's gonna be okay!" Alex smacked his head again.

"Why the hell is this happening to me?!" he began to cry and smacked his head once more. "Why can't I remember what I did?" he was sobbing now. Jack neared the weeping Time Lord before a new wave of anger hit him. To Jack's shock, he slammed his head on the wall continuously. "WHY," _SMACK! _"CAN'T," _SMACK! _"I," _SMACK! _"BLOODY," _SMACK! _"REMEMBER?!"

Blood cursed down his face tear-stricken face as he slid down the wall, burying his head in his hands. "Why is it I think there's something missing but I can't remember?" he sobbed. Jack placed a hand on his trembling shoulder. Unable to take the pain of seeing the shattered Time Lord in this state, Jack resigned to himself and let out a winding sigh. He _had _to tell the truth before it kills him inside.

As if on cue, their force field suddenly sizzles and disables. Two Judoon enter their cell and stood tall, looking down at the two broken men before them.

"You will stand," one grunted. Jack growled and pointed at Alex.

"Can't you see he's injured? You can't just boss us around."

"His injuries are of no importance," it replied. "You will stand." Jack was about to lash out when a hand grabbed his shoulder. It was Alex - as calm as ever compared to three minutes ago.

"Jack, just listen to them," he insisted. The two stood up and to their surprise, the Judoon disabled their collars. With a hiss the collars detached from their necks and feebly fell to the floor with a loud clatter. Alex and Jack exchanged confused, yet hopeful glances as they were shoved out of their cells and into a corridor. They were led to a reception desk where the ex-Time Agent's eyes glinted as he noticed his vortex manipulator on the desk. Bonus points were also scored when he also found the sonic screwdriver next to it. He felt the urge to reach over, but was shoved to a hallway not too far. Then a dreadful thought struck him.

"Wait, it hasn't been twenty four hours until execution," he muttered to Alex.

The Time Lord gasped as he saw where Jack was getting at.

"If we're being taken out of prison before the twenty four hour mark, that means…" Alex trailed off. He couldn't finish the sentence out of fear. Was the twenty-four hour thing a lie? They came into a white waiting room where two large metal doors were. What was behind those doors, Jack and Alex dreaded to wonder.

"You will wait outside the court doors," the Judoon grunted. They were released from their grips and left in the room as the familiar sound of a force field activating could be heard from within the waiting room. They were locked in.

**[One-Hour Ago]**

The Architect left the interrogation room and glared at the room through a one-way mirror. The Doctor sat hunched on a chair looking in such a state. A river of blood ran through his face, his lower jaw swollen from such a beating, a black eye beginning form, whip, electric and burn marks visible on his skin… What was once a strong man with such defiance in his eyes deteriorated to nothing more than that of a broken shell of a man. His face was now pale from the lack of food consumption and he was beginning to breathe very heavily but inconsistently. Then the woman turned to the nearby Judoon. "How many steps up the interrogation ladder did he go up to?"

"Level nine," it replied. That man coped up to nine levels of torture - nine out of ten. She was impressed; she had to admit that.

"Nine levels," she echoed. "It took him seven hours of torture before he cracked." She turned back to the window and noticed a tear fall from the Doctor's cheek.

**…**

Jack and Alex sat in the waiting room, uttering no words to one another. They waited until the large doors slid open to reveal an enormous red circular hall. Alex looked intently at Jack, dry blood smeared around the side of his face from the previous drama. Jack returned his gaze with a forced smile of reassurance.

"Welcome to hell?" the ex-Time Agent asked. The ginger Time Lord slowly nodded.

"Welcome to hell," Alex concluded. And with that, they walked into the hard light of the courtroom.

The courtroom was bigger than they thought. It wasn't like any other court on Earth, oh no. Countless seats that were filled with black-hooded figures were arranged in a circular order to face the centre of the court, which was a relatively small circular platform. Most of the light was focused on the platform as well as the front of the court where a humanoid creature sat, possibly the superior and judge of the case. There was the distinguishable figure of the Shadow Architect who sat on the right hand side of the judge. The amount of people present overwhelmed Alex and he couldn't help but stare. Then he noticed a dishevelled figure sitting in the front row. He gasped and nudged Jack. "Jack look!" he exclaimed, pointing at the man. "It's the Doctor!" Jack squinted across the hall and it was his turn to gasp.

"Oh my God, what have they done to him?" he breathed, noticing the state the poor Time Lord was in. "Doctor!" he called out. Jack was unsure whether he didn't hear him or ignored him, but whatever the reason, he couldn't take his eyes off the Doctor. He looked broken…

The two were suddenly grabbed by two Judoon, again, and were led to the front row seats. Except Alex, who, to Jack's horror, was led towards the circular platform at the centre of the courtroom.

"Alex!" He shouted, lunging forward to run after him, but the Judoon's grip was far too strong. He craned his neck back at the Doctor. "Doctor, say something!"

But the Time Lord was still sitting there idle. Not even protesting like what he would normally do in times such as these. "Doctor…" Jack breathed.

On the platform, the Judoon secured chains on Alex's wrist and ankles to which were secured to the platform to prevent any escape. A little blue light lit up on the cuffs indicating they were triple deadlock sealed. Escape attempts were futile by now… Alex whimpered and stared at the Doctor for help, then back at Jack who had the face of a scared boy. That wasn't supposed to help…

"Alex Johnson," the Judge suddenly began, breaking the silence of the enormous courtroom. "You have been charged for the involvement in the extermination of Aridius during Time War."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Alex grated, starting to feel extremely annoyed with his lack of knowledge. The Judge ignored him and proceeded with his speech.

"You are the only survivor of the Gallifreyan exploration team and thus you will be held responsible for the genocide of the Aridians."

"What?!" Jack suddenly shouted. The Judged scowled as the audience of the trial began bustling. He turned to Jack.

"Interrupting the court hearing is forbidden, human. I could have you persecuted for obstructing the Law."

"This trial is unjust," Jack exclaimed, ignorant of the Judge's threat. "You haven't given us the full twenty four hours, let alone no evidence has been given to start this trial." The black-hooded figures began talking loudly and the Judge slammed his gabble several times before the crowd hushed.

"Escort the human to the execution room."

Jack felt his body being shoved out of the court when the Doctor suddenly stood up and spoke. "Your honour, I request you let him stay until he hears the truth. Whether he leaves or not, he needs to hear it out as a witness of this case." Jack stared at the Doctor's new change in demeanour. What truth was he talking about? Is he going to tell Alex? The Judge nodded.

"Very well then. Let the human stay." Jack sighed as he sat back down on his seat, looking back at the Doctor who had that emotionless face again. The Judge faced Alex.

"Along with eye witness reports of the extermination and various ancient scriptures on the Time War regarding the war on Aridius, the Doctor has also confessed your actions after questioning. The evidence currently gathered now is enough to sentence you to 500 000 years in Volag-Nog."

"WHAT?!" Jack shrieked again and glared at the Doctor. There was no way Alex could cope in a prison as hellish as Volag-Nog. "You snitched on Alex? Why?!" The Doctor dared not look at Jack nor Alex. "Dammit, Doctor, what the hell's gotten into you?!" he screamed, clenching his fists and trying to wriggle free of the Judoon's grasp. "You _idiot_, why?!" The Doctor didn't reply. "BLOODY TELL ME, YOU COWARD!" The Doctor's head perked at this, his face displaying total hatred. Jack saw this and took this chance to give the Doctor another verbal hit. "You're worse than a fleet of Daleks, Cybermen and Sontarans put together, they never sell out one another," he growled. Immediately, the Doctor stamped a foot and stood from his seat.

"YOU HAVE NO BLOODY IDEA HOW MUCH PAIN I WENT THROUGH!" he screamed. "EVERY SINGLE DAY I WAITED FOR HIM TO COME. IT WAS TOO LONG AND PAINFUL UNTIL I STOPPED WAITING BECAUSE HE'D GONE," he suddenly sobbed, shrinking back in his seat. Jack stopped, slightly taken aback and confused. The audience began to mutter to the Judge's annoyance.

"I order the courtroom to be silent!" he demmanded.

"Can someone please, for the love of God, tell me what's going on?!" Alex cried out from the stage, ignorant of the Judge. Jack stared at the Doctor as the Doctor glowered at Alex with pure hatred in his eyes.

"You heard the Judge," the Doctor grated. "You and your team committed genocide. You didn't know there was a fellow Time Lord monitoring the planet, and in the process, you killed my brother."


	9. Shock

**Note: **Boohoo, we're nearing the end of my short story... Just one more chapter to go after this...

Reviews are totally welcome! Just wanna know how people are finding this so far because I've never written a story with an original character... :o

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Chapter 9 - Shock

The whole courtroom suddenly exploded with an uproar after the Doctor's announcement. Alex stared at the Doctor wide-eyed.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he slowly explained.

"That's because _you don't remember_!" the Doctor hissed, clenching his fists. Jack frowned, trying to comprehend what was happening as the Judge smashed his gabble to hush the crowds, and they did so.

"And that settles it. Alex Johnson, do you have any evidence to prove your innocence of case 1011?" Alex stared at the Judge in bewilderment. It was useless to even try… Instead, he feebly shook his head as his restraints clicked and released, falling to the platform. "Then I sentence you to 500 000 years of imprisonment in Volag-Nog."

"Oh, I don't think so." Everyone turned to the source of the voice that suddenly spoke out. It was the Architect.

"I'm sorry?" the Judge queried. The Architect snapped her fingers and a De-Mat gun was pointed directly at Alex's skull. The Doctor was up in a flash.

"What are you doing?!" he shrieked. "You said no executions!"

"You are not entitled to distribute sentences, Madame," the Judge declared.

"I'm sorry, Doctor. But the Shadow Proclamation can't simply let a mass murderer _live_. It won't look good in our name," the woman chided.

"You're locking him up in a high security prison!" the Doctor objected.

"Listen to the Doctor, Madame," the Judge warned. "Continue like this or I will have you taken from position as Shadow Architect."

"Oh, shut up," she snapped. "I've been working on case 1011 for nearly _two hundred years_," she exclaimed. "I've yearned to see this killer dead."

"So you're doing this out of hubris?" the Doctor snarled. "What kind of a corrupt police force are you?" The Architect ignored him and frantically gestured at the executioner.

"_FIRE_! Kill him now!"

Jack shrieked and elbowed the Judoon. He wriggled free of the rhino's grip and sprinted across the centre of the hall.

_BANG!_

The Doctor watched as Jack's body fell limp on the ground, his chest bleeding uncontrollably. Alex's breathing hitched as Jack's body convulsed and froze. He began to cry. The Architect glared at the executioner, smoke rising from the De-Mat gun he wielded.

"You were supposed to shoot the killer!" she shrieked, running out from her seat and snatching the De-Mat gun from him and pointing it at Alex. The Doctor saw this and began to yell, flailing as much as possible until the Judoon restraining him let go. He ran…

_BANG!_

Alex scrunched his eyes and felt something warm splatter all over him. It was blood… What was blood doing all over him? His train of thought suddenly froze and his eyes flashed open. He found himself face to face with the Doctor who had his arms outstretched, acting as a shield to Alex. His eyes were wide with pain, but he tried his best not to cry out. The Doctor winced and gave a wry smile, blood trailing from his mouth.

"What a lousy shot," he whispered, almost using up his remaining energy just to chuckle. Alex's breathing became uneven as he looked down and noticed a giant hole through the Doctor's torso. Blood was pouring all the way down his legs and a large pool was beginning to form at an alarming rate. The Doctor hacked up blood before collapsing in a heap, his clothes now being stained in blood. His breath hitched again, and Alex let out a blood-curdling scream. He was crying from utter shock when he felt an unbearable searing pain in his head. For a moment, he thought he fell unconscious when a white light blinded him as all sorts of images poured into his mind…

So experiencing shock _does _jog your memories…

**…**

_Images of his past five regenerations were seen. He caught up onto his second last incarnation - a female with short-cropped black hair. She was clad in a red uniform and two guns holstered on each side of her waist. She held a primary gun with both hands and was running towards a bombsight, bodies scattered throughout the whole the area. One thing in particular caught her attention. An injured humanoid lying in the ground smothered in blood, clearly not of the Aridian world stretched out an arm towards her._

_"You're… you're Gallifreyan?" he rasped. She nodded and dropped down to him, trying to apply pressure on his bleeding wound. He shook his head. "No use trying… I've lost too much… blood…" His head lolled to the side. "The Doctor… Tell my brother… tell him I'm… I'm sorry I couldn't come back…" His eyes rolled back as Alex stared at the dead Time Lord, crying as she felt yet another psychic link sever right in front of her eyes. In a split second, her body was suddenly thrown forwards as she got caught in the middle of another explosion. Golden energy seeped from her as she scowled. Fives times already…_

_She released the regeneration energy as golden light poured out from her, every single cell renewing into a new body. But it went a little too far as the form of her body transformed into a male's body… She felt her head tingle and gasped as she felt something wrong… her regeneration energy abruptly backfires on her and she faints, freezing her mind and forgetting her memories._

_There was another burst of white light and Alex found himself back to reality._

**…**

He stared at the Doctor's body, lifting his own hands covered in the Doctor's blood. "What have I done?" he cried out. "What have I done?!" he repeated louder more to himself.

Judoon marched towards the Architect and restrain her as she screeched. "We haven't killed the killer!"

"Get her out of here!" the Judge bellowed. The Judoon nodded and dragged her wriggling form out of the courtroom. He looked at the Doctor in concern. "Treat the Time Lord. His health is our priority; we cannot kill off any endangered life forms." He noticed Jack and sighed. "Treat the human, too." Then he looked at Alex. "And as for you-"

Before he could finish, Alex legged it out of the courtroom in shame and fear. The Judge took this by surprise and ordered the Judoon to catch him alive at any cost. Of course, the rhinos sped off trigger-happy. Alex darted out of the waiting room and turned right, retracing his steps and hopefully finding a lift. He needed the TARDIS. His mind is torn from thought and he suddenly screamed in pain as he gets shot in the chest, collapsing to the floor before picking himself up again with the power of will power. The next shot hit his leg and he doubled over, slamming his head along in the fall. He gritted his teeth and gasped at the amount of blood seeping from him. But he picked himself up again. He was limping now, daring not to slow down his pace. The sounds of stamping grew more audible with every painful turn he took until he stumbled by the reception from earlier. He noticed the vortex manipulator and sonic screwdriver and a thought crossed his mind… Using his regained knowledge, he fixed the vortex manipulator with the sonic device. If he could get it right, he pressed the vortex manipulator and zapped back in time to the events just after the Doctor and Jack take him back to Torchwood after his fall from the rooftop.

**…**

Alex appeared in front of the Torchwood entrance in a puff of smoke and he sighed in total relief. The entrance rolled open and the gates opened to the Hub. Unable to walk anymore due to the injuries sustained from his chase, Alex crawled into the Hub, panting and breathing heavily. At once, Jack ran towards him.

"What the hell?!" Jack dropped down next to the man, at a loss for what to do. Alex grunted in pain and reached up to Jack, clutching desperately onto his shirt with weak arms.

"Jack… Jack I need…"

Jack stared at him, completely speechless. "How do you know my name?"

"Please," he pleaded, blood cursing down the side of his face. He was gasping for air now. Jack looked terrified. "I need… the… the Doctor…"

"What?"

"Tell him… I'm… I'm so, so… sorry," he gasped as his grip around Jack gradually loosened.

"Where's the Doctor?" The ex-Time Agent demanded in a panic.

Alex didn't answer. Instead, he fell unconscious, sagging into Jack's arms.

**…**

He woke up lying flat on the autopsy table again and realised he was wired up to a life support machine. Dammit, he landed in the wrong time zone… He heard footsteps as Jack entered the room. Immediately, he shut his eyes, playing dead for the meantime. The Doctor entered the room short after.

"Who is he?" The Time Lord boggled, pointing his head at the body before descending down the stairs to take a closer look.

"I don't know, Doc, who is he?" Jack asked.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he mumbled, playing around with a scalpel on a surgical tray. Jack grumbled and cleared his throat.

"He suddenly turns up to the Torchwood Hub all battered up and almost as if he's dying. He said he was looking for you." The Doctor turned his head and stared at the limp body wired up to a life support machine by the looks of it.

"I've never seen him in my life," he confessed. Beginning to feel impatient, Jack picked up the bio scan results.

"He has two hearts."

The surgical equipment the Time Lord had been fiddling with dropped with a loud clang on the metal tray. Before he could take in a breath to shout, Jack grabbed his arm and pulled him out of the autopsy room, taking him all the way into his office.

Alex waited until there was total silence in the autopsy room before he shot up and dreaded the next thing he was about to do… He pulled the tubes from his body and the remaining needles, scrunching his face as he held in the pained screams; he felt his body deteriorate at an alarming rate. To be honest, he wasn't sure if he would make it… He suddenly let out a quieter than usual groan and prayed to God the Doctor nor Jack heard him… His wounds were plastered proving to be of great convenience so he needn't worry of any blood trails. Stealthily, Alex slipped off the autopsy table, climbed up the stairs with a little difficulty and crept towards the exit in a complete hurry but starting to feel extremely weak. At one point, his legs gave out and he fell onto the floor. He was surprised no one heard him yet, but he didn't want to speak too soon. Eventually, he was out in the open and took a quick breather before limping off to a more secluded area not too far from the Millenium Center where golden energy started seeping from him. The shot he took when being chased damaged one of his vital organs. Trying to stay alive was futile… A tear suddenly trickled upon his cheek when he realised how much he didn't want to die… Regeneration energy exploded from him as every cell in his body began renewing.

All of a sudden, the Torchwood satellites detected massive energy surges.


	10. Forget

**Note: **And BEHOLD. The last chapter... Actually, it's more like an epilogue... *shrugs*

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Chapter 10 - Forget

The Judge glanced at the Doctor and Jack, both still unconscious before turning to the witnesses of the previous court hearing. "Case 1011 has been open for nearly two hundred years and after recent events witnessed, I think it's best we all forget the current events revolving around case 1011 to prevent suspicions of the Shadow Proclamation. The Architect's reckless actions have spawned several uproars from my superiors."

"You want us to pretend we knew nothing of the recent events involving case 1011?" one of the hooded figures asked. The Judge shook his head.

"I want you all to _forget_, not to pretend. How can you tell you will ever speak of the matters ever again? I have prepared doses of retcon for everyone." Then he gestured towards the Doctor and Jack behind him. "They were dragged into the case, therefore they must forget, too. I've told the nurses to come up with a back-story for them in case they ask what they're doing in hospital."

"What about Alex Johnson?" Someone asked.

"His body hasn't been found. We assume he is dead," the Judge replied. They exchanged glances before the Judge cleared his throat. "Those in favour of the retcon scheme?" Everyone raised their hand and the Judge nodded. He produced two syringes of retcon from under his sleeve and approached the sleeping forms of the Doctor and Jack.

**…**

The Doctor woke up from a healing coma and a splitting headache. He frowned at his surroundings. Judging from the white walls, the smell of disinfectant, the numerous medical equipment, the lack of little shops... Yup, he was in a hospital. What was he doing in a hospital? Did he trip over a brick? He checked over his body and noticed his lower abdomen was heavily bandaged. He frowned and unwrapped the bandages to reveal light scarring – nothing too severe from what it initially might have looked like... Looks like his healing comma worked wonders as usual. There was a loud groan next to him and Jack yawned, stretching his arms before blinking several times and frowning.

"Why are we in a hospital?" the American asked, slightly bewildered.

"I thought you might know," the Doctor mumbled. He spotted a nurse walking by and called out to her. "Excuse me… err, what happened to us?" The nurse arched a brow.

"You don't remember?" she wondered. "We found your ship drifting in front of the Shadow Proclamation. Your door was left open when we had a look inside, we found you unconscious and severely injured so we took you in." The Doctor and Jack exchanged confused glances. Then the Time Lord shrugged, dismissing it as one of those normal strange occurrences. He felt through his pockets and frowned, realising his sonic screwdriver was missing. Not to worry, he's got loads in the TARDIS. Then his head perked up. "Speaking of drifting ships, where _is_ my ship?"

"It's parked in storage floor 237. You can get it once you discharge yourselves from the ward," the nurse replied with a smile.

"Crap, I lost my Vortex Manipulator!" Jack exclaimed, arms flailing as he looked in every direction possible.

"I'm afraid that Vortex Manipulator is property of the Time Agency," the nurse chipped in. "And full-time Time Agents can only be in possession of those devices. We took the liberty to transmat the vortex manipulator back to the Agency." Jack groaned at that and the Doctor giggled.

"I'm fully patched up. What about you, Jack?" He asked, trying to change the subject since he was raring to go. The ex-Time Agent nodded and clambered from his hospital bed.

"Better than you," he quipped with a charismatic grin. The Doctor rolled his eyes and clambered from his bed to look at the nurse. "We'll be discharging ourselves now."

**…**

A blue box suddenly materialised into the Torchwood Hub. The door opened and Jack poked his head out, only to have three guns trained on him.

"Where the bloody hell have you been?!" Gwen Cooper yelled, holstering her gun. Jack laughed and threw his arms around the Welsh girl.

"Oh, it's so good to see you again," he mumbled, squishing Gwen in his embrace. He sees Ianto over Gwen's shoulder and releases Gwen to go for Ianto. The Doctor watched the hug fest from his ship in amusement before Jack turned back to the Doctor. "Guess this is where we part?"

"Yup," the Doctor replied, popping the 'p'. Jack made a quick salute and smiled. "Oh! And don't forget this. I know you can't live without it." He produced a Vortex Manipulator from his pocket.

"When... How?!" Jack boggled, taking the device gratefully. The Doctor grinned.

"Whilst you were filling out your discharge papers, I may have snuck into the Shadow Proclamation computer system and tracked down the last transmat co ordinates to the Time Agency and reversed the process," he smirked, waving his sonic screwdriver in front of Jack. The ex-Time Agent laughed at that, putting his Vortex Manipulator on and placing an arm around Gwen's shoulder.

"So where are you off to this time?"

The Doctor took a moment of thought. "Somewhere less… hectic," he thought out loud. Then his face lit up. "You know what, I'm going to Mars."


End file.
